Russia's Space Forces Assume Control Over New Military Satellite

A new Russian military satellite has reached its final orbit after a launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan on Wednesday night. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Aerospace Forces assumed control over newest military satellite launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday. "The spacecraft launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was put to the final orbit at the estimated time and the ground facilities of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces assumed control over it," the ministry said. A telemetry with the spacecraft has been established and maintained. On-board satellite systems are functioning normally, it said. "After control was taken, the spacecraft received the serial number 'Kosmos-2520,'" the ministry added. The Proton-M carrier rocket has been launched on August 17 at 1:07 a.m. Moscow time (22:07 GMT on Wednesday) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and 10 minutes later, the Briz-M upper stage with the satellite has split from the third stage of the Proton rocket. Read more: https://sputniknews.com/science/201708171056537323-russia-space-forces-control-satellite/